Suffolk Community College makes STEM pitch

By: John Callegari July 10, 2012Comments Off on Suffolk Community College makes STEM pitch

Suffolk County Community College President Shaun McKay

With so many higher institutions participating in local actions aimed at bolstering Long Island’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics-based workforce, Suffolk County Community College made sure elected officials and business leaders weren’t passing over the two-year school as a potential source for employees.

Suffolk Community College President Shaun McKay hosted more than 40 business leaders and elected officials at the school’s Brentwood campus today, showing off the state-of-the-art Workforce Development Technology Center. While unassuming from the outside, the building boasts facilities and tools allowing students to train in manufacturing, welding and HVAC-related careers. Several companies have already begun using the center as a breeding ground for new talent.

“What typically happens is that students are approached by employers for jobs while they’re still in the program,” McKay said.

Also read

More than 500 students have been trained in the center, funded through several grants.

And several more could be coming, as McKay unveiled a proposal for a sister building next to the center that would allow students to work hands-on with and develop renewable energy systems. The proposed 25,000-square-foot Renewable Energy and STEM Center would include labs, office suites, classrooms and even a mobile smart house on rails that could slide in and out of the building so students could provide a practical application for renewable energy technologies. Photovoltaic solar panels and a wind turbine would be placed directly next to the lab, providing it with a net-zero energy footprint.

Since discussions about the building, estimated to cost more than $10 million before any specialized lab equipment is included, are still ongoing, McKay couldn’t specify when it might be completed.